Dr. Sterling was cut back into the tense antagonism which was rising between his son and Hoffbein, when Hoffbein remarked:
“Have you no private conclusions, Ethridge?”
“This is no psychiatric examination, Hoffbein,” said Bear. Bear’s eyes also knew the hypodermic trick.
“My son has told you the facts, and asked the staff’s aid. He suspects an unnatural situation in his department, and asks, in relation to the hospital, how our experience would lead us to handle it. That’s simple, and like all simple things, complex enough, isn’t it?”
Dr. Harrison took his eyes from the leaves, looked at his watch and rose. He had said nothing for minutes. His action had the effect of a seine upon minnows.
They were caught in his force. He said:
“What is being done with the bed now, Ethridge?”
“It is in use, sir. A patient of Father’s.”
“Excellent.”
Then with the steady stroke of a masseur, he went on: